Archive for the ‘2++ mth’ Category

Recently, he has settled into a somewhat more predictable routine. Unfortunately, this routine still involves him waking up every 3 hours even at night. For a few days last week, he actually slept for 4 hours straight and we thought we struck gold! He quickly assured us that that was a mere fluke the next couple of days. Oh how I wish he could start sleeping longer through the night soon.

There is still the problem though of me needing to pump every 3- 3.5 hours. I’ve tried dragging the timing to 4 hours but almost always get struck with blocked ducts instead (and with it, the pain and drop in supply =( Oh how I hate blocked ducts). So even if he sleeps through, I’d still have to wake up twice to pump anyway. I’m slowly trying to reduce my pumping time in the wee hours now hopefully ease off the overnight supply enough that I only need to pump once.

9 Feb: Hand over the Cuddles!

Social Smile

It seems that his eyes can focus better now. Instead of staring blankly into space, he now scrutinizes us int

ensely when we carry him. I wonder if he recalls how his mama looks like 🙂 He’s also been giving lots of sweet social smiles when we are carrying him and he’s in a good mood. Definitely charmed all of us in the household, in-laws included. This is probably just his ploy to get more cuddles!

Pacifier

As you know, we introduced the pacifier to him and had a lot more peace since then. I think many parents are reluctant to do it because of the possibility of nipple confusion. In my case, he’s not confused at all since he rejects my breasts outright, even for comfort sucking =[ I’ve read through the literature and it’s actually alright for bottle feeding babies to be given pacifiers to satisfy their need to suckle for comfort. Because otherwise, he will likely continue to suck on the teat even when he’s no longer hungry, and we’d think he’s hungry and give him more milk, resulting in obesity. Aunty Janet and aunty Huiling already commented that he has no neck, so he better not go too far in that direction! He already has quite a lot of those michellin man folds.

Haven’t weighed him recently since our weighing machine is too inaccurate but I’m guessing he’s about 5 kg now. Will probably be bringing him for his pneumoccocal jab end of this month, so we’ll see how he fared.

He’s now 2 months and 6 days old so he’s really only been home for 6 weeks. Somehow it feels like it’s been a long time. Today, we brought him back to KK hospital for his eye review again and he passed the test! It’s not a test exactly but I just feel like every examination is a checklist of things to check off to reassure me that he’ll grow just like any normal full term baby. His cranial ultrasound was normal as well so this is a great relief. So now, he only has a regular review in 2 months time with the PD at KKH. The last visit, he was still anemic and had jaundice, though I’m not sure if the anemia is due to the possibility that he has thalassemia minor just like Johnny.

He’s been a fussy baby every evening from 8pm all the way till 12 midnight. He’ll cry unless carried and refuse to fall asleep. It’s a bit of a struggle and quite tiring to have to carry him around. And by carry around, I mean walking around while hopping/swaying/patting him. He’ll get upset if you sit down while carrying him and most of the time, even if he falls asleep in our arms, he’ll wake up once you put him down. I think my arms muscles are definitely improving but I won’t be surprised if I suffer from carpal tunnel instead.

I’ve tried putting him in the baby carrier but the weather’s been hot recently so he continues to struggle inside. He seems to really sensitive to heat so we’ve resorted to turning on the aircon every night. Today, perhaps because of the eye examination where the doctor had him held down and his eyes pried open, he’s been extra fussy even in the afternoon. Perhaps that is his “revenge” for letting him suffer and cry his little heart out=[ Let’s hope that it means he’ll sleep better tonight.

I was reading through the forums and most babies around his age are already sleeping through the night or at least longer hours. Premature babies apparently take longer to do that. So looks like we won’t get any reprieve from having panda eyes any time soon. I certainly hope that by March when Johnny has to go for reservist, his sleeping habits will improve or I will probably drop dead for those two weeks >_<

Recently, we introduced the pacifier to him as he’s been fussing more and more and sometimes just inconsolable. He’ll exihibit signs of wanting to suckle for comfort but since I can’t latch (not from want of trying) we decided to buy him a pacifier. We’ve read that it might not be good for teeth development if it’s used for a prolonged period so we’re planning to wean him off after 6 months or before 1 year old. By then he would hopefully be easier to take care of so I won’t be too tired to comfort him when he fusses. Right now, I’m constantly fighting sleep deprivation so it’s a blessing that he really takes to the Nuk pacifier that we bought. It was also a great help yesterday when he went for the cranial ultrasound and they needed him to be still.

Recently, he’s been showing more control of his limbs. Since I didn’t want him to be too dependent on the pacifier, I’ve been trying to take it from him after a few minutes and a few times, he actually used his hand to hold the pacifier in place! This picture was taken yesterday, can really see that his face is all rounded out now!